Okay, so while I don’t remember when I watched the original Star Wars movies for the first time, I do know it had to be somewhere in the late 80s when I was just a little tyke and at the time my parents were transferred overseas. So what would you do if you happened to be a little kid stuck in the outskirts of some foreign city, where at the time there was not much to do and no such thing as Saturday morning cartoons (and even if there were, you wouldn’t have been able to understand them)? You watched your beloved 70s and 80s movie trilogies on VHS, over and over and over again! It was all we had. And that’s how I fell in love with Star Wars.

So I was watching the Jedi Progression video and thinking to myself, “Hey, this looks pretty cool,” but at about 0:36 where the Yoda-ish theme song kicks in and the droid pipes up with its little trill, I suddenly I found myself feeling a little choked up. This is going to sound embarrassing, but I don’t know how else to put it. It was like being pulled back 20 years ago and watching Luke Skywalker take his first step from being a naive farmboy to becoming a seasoned Jedi Knight all over again.

And then it was over. Subsequent armor sets started reminding me of the prequels era and pulled me out of my heavy cloud of nostalgia. Don’t get me wrong — the armor sets themselves were stylish, fashionable and overall looked very, very cool — but thinking about Episodes I, II, and III always tends to have that “smelling salts” effect on me. For a few moments there though, the powerful music and the image of that Jedi reaching that momentous milestone in his evolution — igniting and marveling over his first ever lightsaber — almost had me thinking about ditching my Bounty Hunter plans and going with the Jedi Knight for my main. Luke Skywalker’s “hero’s journey” was one of the things that made me love Star Wars so much. They’ve even got that pose from the poster down.

The fact that the Jedi Knight was the class I played in the Taral V demo probably also had a hand in making me feel this way. The wide range of abilities I had to play with impressed me, and that was only just a small subset of what was available. I know I said before that I had very little interest in the force users, but it’s one thing to say that before I saw the Jedi Knight in action, another to have actually experienced the joys of breaking a vine cat’s face in with my lightsaber.

What it all boils down to, though, is the epiphany I had after watching the video — I think I understand better now why someone would want to play the Jedi Knight. You see, I’d always thought of it as a “typical” decision, but now after the video and reflecting upon my own fond memories, I kinda feel bad about that. This update has made me think that perhaps it would be more accurate of me to replace “typical” with “meaningful” instead.

It does look like Pure Awesome. Especially since Ewan McGregor’s Obiwan Kenobi is my favorite character in the series (even though the rest of the PT was less than stellar). With DGF leaning toward Bounty Hunter, I’ll probably end up one of the Sith.

Speaking of balance (from Twitter), the various classes seem to not quite correspond. Like the Sith Warrior is countered by the Trooper, not the Jedi Knight, I think would be the logical counterpart. This is a good thing, but will lead to balance headaches. I only worry because of how the nerf/buff PvP actions will affec tmy PvE toon.

Wasn’t it the bounty hunter that counters the trooper? There was a quote from the BH update that mentions the trooper being the arch nemesis or something like that, if I recall. Or is this Sith Warrior thing something else? It seems to make sense to have the Warrior be the “arch nemesis” for the Jedi Knight.

Whn I was a kid we had Star Wars on an RCA discmaster. It was this weird pre-VCR thing where the movies came on these huge plastic disks. You had to take them out and flip them over halfway through the movie. Yes, I am old enough to remember primitive tech like that…

In any case, I watched Star Wars so many times on that thing when I was a kid that at some point I could recite every line in the movie from beginning to end. Star Wars IV-VI was a huge part of my childhood. So I know what you mean about getting much more worked up over some Star Wars than seems at all reasonable.

I think I remember those huge plastic disks! Like I was saying, I grew up overseas as an expatriate where the technology in some places could be ages behind, so I do know what you’re talking about! LOL :D

Seriously though I am loving the Sentinel armor and hope the marauder armor is similar. Just love the look of the lighter armor and the hood – not the fact you can swing two light sabers around………. heh

I gotta say, the dual wielding of the sentinel looks pretty darn awesome :D I was thinking of avoiding the Jedi classes and playing something like the Trooper just to be a little more unique about after seeing that trailer… egads! There’s going to be a lot of Jedi running around that’s for sure :P

Not only is “Yoda’s Theme” one of the most incredible pieces of music in film history, seeing the combination of that theme with a Jedi getting his first lightsaber just captures what so many people are hoping to experience with this game.

I’m sure there will be many people who will feel that nostalgia kick in the first time they get their lightsaber, or activate their jet pack, or the first time they Force Choke someone.

For me, it’s going to be the first time I set foot in a cantina on Tatooine.

I realize that the members of the Mos Eisley Cantina Band are probably not even born yet in the SWTOR timeline, and that none of the aliens in that bar are likely alive yet, either. But just knowing that I am on Tatooine, in a cantina…

The only other thing I can imagine matching it, would be if I hear a musical cue somewhere in the game when someone makes a references the original trilogy.

BioWare already did it once (“I’d sooner see Alderaan blasted into space debris than handed over to the Empire.”); I wouldn’t put it past them to do it again.

Seriously though, if I walk into a cantina on Tatooine and a version of the original cantina music is playing, I’ll probably jump out of my chair and pump my fists.

The lightsaber moment is just so iconic. I’m thinking now that when I play this game, maybe I’ll even just take a break from leveling my main for a little while, and just play the Jedi Knight story a little until I get my first lightsaber. Just to experience that scene. Shouldn’t take long!

And yeah, I’m with you. I’m looking forward to seeing how they will handle the Tattooine cantina setting in this game. I was okay with what I saw in KOTOR, but there’s so much more potential here in SWTOR.

Haha, so what you’re saying is, old school jedi > newer prequel jedi? I know you’re not trying to say it, but it is the way it comes off. For what it’s worth, when i was 10 years old, for christmas i got an entire set of star wars toys, Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader etc. I had all of the ships, the works, to top it off, i got the then new Special Edition VHS and it changed my entire life.

Well beyond just watching A New Hope like religion every night, and falling asleep at the point of 3po and R2 marching through the desert. In my heart and mind, there is no more powerful force in the galaxy than the Jedi. No one more pure of heart, focused, devoted, a person who knows their purpose in the galaxy, to protect, serve, and push their limits of wisdom and power alike.

To me, just because newer models of a jedi, such as Clone Wars Obi-wan in armor, or Anakin holding two lightsabers in a fight, or the double edged lightsaber of Darth Maul emerges and pushes the boundaries of what we THINK of a jedi, the ideal is always there to me.

I think Jedi are the most bad ass superhuman entitity of any comic, of any movie, of anything period. They are connected to the feelings of people, beasts, and the entire galaxy. A tremendous responsibility.

That mere fact alone gives me respect for them regardless of any “re-imagining” that can be dreamed up.

If anything i get chills thinking about double lightsabers and all of the things a jedi can do. The sad part is that in GAMES i’ll always see them as God mode, because of early SWG. I’ll remember the committment it took to grind and become one, but the fact remains that it’s the most controversial class period.

In general, not for all, either you want to be a Jedi, or you hate them and want nothing but troubles and their demise. I think a true jedi can decipher, understand that, but stick to their resolve and do what a jedi does anyway, that’s why it’s almost imperative for me to at least have one Jedi in my character slots to represent the pure of heart and Jedi that dropped so much REAL WORLD knowledge in my life.

“Your eyes decieve you, don’t trust them.” :)

I know i ranted a bunch, but i’d also like to mention Jedi Sentinel looks soooooooooooooooo frickin bad ass!!!!!! I want this game so bad right now..

Heh heh, not saying which I think is better, but old school jedi sure have more charm ;) I watched the original trilogy like religion as a child too, and that’s how I fell in love with Star Wars. I guess that’s why the “re-mastered” editions of those movies really piss me off. I’m as annoyed as the next fan over the “Han shot first” thing and the Hayden Christensen as a ghost thing along with a ton of other crappy changes Lucas made…but the one thing I really couldn’t forgive was his changing the theme music for the final ewok party scene in Return of the Jedi. I LOVED that music when I was a kid, LOVED it. It made me so happy watching the movie end to that song…and they bloody went and changed it with a new theme. UGH!

Anyway, enough ranting from me as well :P I know what you mean about the Jedi and playing them as you would if you were embodying all their ideals. That’s sort of what I was getting at in my post as well. Over the years, different media and works from the expanded universe have added and brought new ideas of what it means to be a Jedi. I mean, they’re all part of the overall grand mythos and just as valid, and sure you can make grey jedis or downright evil jedi…but the possibility of being able to go back to the pure of heart “old school” Jedi values appeals to me a lot. So I totally get where you’re coming from. And which is why props again to BioWare for giving each character the choice to follow different paths. :D

If I recall correctly, somewhere in their forum post about this update they were saying that the armor models and the abilities in the video are just a few of the many we’ll get to see in game. So I’m very sure we’ll be seeing a lot more variety in armor and weapon choices.

Here’s to Bioware adopts a little something from DC Universe online, in that collecting pieces of gear allows you to equip gear with better stats, but of all the gear you’ve collected, you can equip it as your APPEARANCE without sacrificing stats.

In a way, *the WoW way to be precise* you sacrifice the iconic-ism of a tier 2 armor “Altair” armor in exchange for wearing whatever you want on the outside.

Even Star Wars Galaxies now-a-days gives you the power to be wearing a full set of armor, and equip a shirt, pants, shoes, gloves, etc to look how you want to look.

While i dont think it’s NECESSARY in the scheme of things, but it would easily quiet the masses of people who’ll complain about one thing or another, infact i’m sure if they could look anyway they wanted, they’d complain that ALL armor sets look bad.